When the Earth Shifts
by The Pterodactyl
Summary: Sokka and Katara are two bounty hunters ekeing out a living when they take a job from the wealthy Bei Fong family to bring their daughter back. The job will test them far more than they expected.
1. Maelstrom

A/N: You're looking at a fic that I actually wrote several months ago, but only recently returned to and overhualed completely. The premise is the only thing that's the same, actually. This is also the only multichapter fic I've ever finished, so...GO ME! Enjoy!

Katara sat idly, sipping her tea in small, measured amounts, designed so that the cup would last exactly as long as she wanted it to. It was a surveillance technique well honed over the years. Katara's deep marine eyes swept the clientele of the small outdoor café she was currently seated in, looking for potential threats. When none appeared, she settled back slightly and waited for her brother to arrive.

Sokka turned up a few minutes later, weaving through the tables the sit across from his sister. Katara didn't say anything by way of greeting, merely raised an inquisitive eyebrow. Sokka leaned forward conspiratorially.

"Tonight," he said in a low voice. "It has to be tonight. My informant says our target is planning on attending the event in person, and that it could be a very long time before he arranges another meeting."

Katara gave him a look. "It could also be in two days. You know as well as I do how exposed that sort of operation would be." At this, Sokka smiled in that sly way Katara had come to both loathe and love.

"Not necessarily. Apparently, our target makes a big show of arriving in style, a big carriage and everything. But he's only in the carriage for the last leg of the trip. He actually makes the trip separately, using an underground of connected passages throughout the Lower Ring. He comes up just a few blocks shy of the arena, gets in the carriage, and rides the rest of the way. We just have to intercept him. And I know exactly the place."

"Where?"

"Where the passages cross the sewers."

Katara's eyes lit up. "Excellent. Sounds like another brilliant plan. But wait…who is this informant of yours that knows so much?"

Sokka rolled his eyes. "Surprisingly, he's a humble street vendor, a green grocer. Apparently his produce is of only the highest quality, and the runners our target sends to get it have loose tongues."

"Interesting."

"Yeah, not exactly your typical cloak-and-dagger kind of guy."

They sat in silence for perhaps five minutes, Katara finishing her tea, Sokka gazing apparently at random around the café, then they got up and parted ways without a word, Katara leaving a few copper pieces on the table for the drink.

--

That night found the two hiding in the darkness of the sewers of Ba Sing Se. Both of them were underwater, wrapped in cocoons of air, thanks to Katara's waterbending. About a hundred feet in front of them, a narrow wooden bridge crossed the sewer pipe, and it was there that they anticipated the appearance of their target in a matter of minutes. The bridge featured torches ensconced in the walls of the passage on either side, but they were extremely dim and the light ended a good seventy feet from the sibling's position.

Sokka unrolled the map of the Lower Ring Underground he had procured from his informer ("On loan," the man had been quick to add) and consulted it for the nth time that night. Katara growled.

"Why do you keep looking at that thing? If I didn't know better, I'd swear you had nerves."

"I do," Sokka snapped, "and you know very well why."

Katara grunted in annoyance. "And YOU know why we couldn't bring your guandao, Sokka. Not only would it stick up through the water, but should we be forced to fight, you wouldn't be able to wield it in the passage; I doubt that tunnel is more than five feet wide."

Sokka slumped a little. "I just feel…naked…without it."

"You've got your wakizashi, and your boomerang; I'd say you're perfectly well equipped to deal with this mission. Besides, I doubt there's a guard among them that can match you in even hand to hand combat."

Sokka frowned at her. "Flattery does you no good."

"I know. But I'm your sister, and it's my job to annoy you," Katara replied, smiling impishly.

Just then, their conversation was interrupted by the sight of a party of people beginning to cross the bridge. Among them were several burly guards, armed to the teeth, along with a couple of unarmed men the siblings figured were earthbenders. Not that their bending would do them much good on a wooden bridge.

In the center of the group, partially hidden, was a tall elegant man dressed in fine green robes trimmed in gold and black. Much nicer dress than all but a handful of Earth Kingdom residents could claim these days. In fact, the siblings knew of only one other family with that kind of wealth, and that was their employers. The man's name was Fao Lung, and he ran a huge smuggling ring among the poorer residents in Ba Sing Se.

As their target and his entourage neared the center of the bridge, Katara took a ready stance. She might a slight noise of annoyance and breathed, "This is no fun. It'd be more fun to just collapse the bridge…" Sokka cut her off.

"We already went over this. There have to be some men left to tell that he's dead, or the network will take longer to collapse."

Katara growled. "Fine. But I'm taking some guards, too." And before Sokka could argue, Katara had raised her arms in the classic octopus form, causing tendrils of water to rise from the surface. A quick motion and the tentacles shot out and snagged three guards from the bridge, casually dragging them under and leaving them to be swept downstream.

The remaining entourage went wild, yelling in confusion and jostling to get their boss away from the water. But Katara was way ahead of them, flicking her wrist and sending a single razor icicle flying from the water, through the throat of the boss. He collapsed, convulsing, and by now his guards were really panicking. Apparently forgoing protocol, they picked up their charge bodily and hustled him away. Sokka and Katara grinned at each other.

"Mission accomplished."

An hour later, Sokka and Katara emerged from an alley near the entrance to the arena Fao Lung had been bound for, now dressed in the street clothes they'd been wearing that afternoon. Sokka pulled the map from his pocket and handed it cheerfully to the green grocer that had set up shop near the entrance; the map nodded in respect and went back to arranging his cabbages.

Sokka and Katara walked through the doorway and down a long flight of stairs, emerging in a huge open arena carved from the bedrock. The outside was ringed with stone bleachers, and in the center was a raised platform where two earthbenders were currently facing off. Cheers and jeers for both combatants rang loudly in the great room. The two siblings paid the bouncer, and took seats near the back, away from most of the spectators.

The victor of the current match was decided a few minutes later; and the man began parading around the ring, gesticulating and shouting taunts. He stayed as the announcer came out to announce the next match.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I give you tonight's winner, LAAAAAANDSLIIIIIIIDE!" The crowd, and Landslide, cheered appreciatively. "But your champion still has one more challenge to face! To proclaim himself Grand Champion of the Impenetrable Ring, he must first defeat our current Grand Champion! Ladies and gentlemen, please greet our undefeated Champion in your best fashion…the…Blind…BANDIIIIIIT!"

From the back of the arena, it was a little hard to make out the small figure that launched onto the ring from beneath the bleachers. The crowd positively screamed, and Landslide looked somewhat apprehensive.

"That's her?" Katara spoke without looking at her brother.

"Yes."

"Well, the Bei Fongs should be satisfied."

Sokka snuck a sideways glance at the entrance, just as a man recognizable as one of Fao Lung's surviving guards rushed into the arena, and began racing headlong down the stairs, apparently with intent to announce the bad news.

Sokka stood. "C'mon. Time for us to go."

Katara stood and wordlessly followed him out.


	2. Aftershock

Katara and Sokka allowed themselves a few extra hours sleep that night as a kind of reward for a job well done. As a result, they woke well after dawn, and a quick check at the sun's position told Sokka they had about four hours until noon. They immediately began making preparations to leave, packing their weapons and gear and talking quickly about the best way to get out of the city. Fine bounty hunters they were, but Sokka's guandao was a fairly distinctive weapon, and they were also wanted criminals for several of their more high profile jobs, so normal modes of transport were generally out.

Sokka had just mentioned the possibility of getting in touch with yet another contact of his, an old man who liked to play Pai Sho and had gotten them out of some scrapes in the past, when there was a sharp knock on their door. The siblings gave each other a look; when they had paid for their room in the cramped inn, they had specifically told the innkeeper that under no circumstances were they to be interrupted. Those that did did so at their own risk.

So it was with a certain amount of trepidation and his guandao firmly in his right hand that Sokka answered the door. And standing in the doorway, leaning casually against the frame with her arms crossed, was none other than the Blind Bandit herself, Toph Bei Fong.

"Hey," she said casually. "What's up?" Up close, she was a strange mix of features; a girl in her mid teens, with a pretty face still clinging to the last hurrahs of childhood, but also with broad shoulders and muscular arms. Her long black hair was braided and tossed over one shoulder, except for her bangs, which hung, shaggy, in her eyes.

"Nothing," Sokka said guardedly, cursing himself inwardly for staying at an inn with brick walls and baked mud floors. "Who are you?"

Toph's face contorted in fury. "Don't give me that shit, you low-life! You know damn well who I am!" She pointed an accusing finger at Sokka; getting right up in his face, even though her gaze bored into his jaw rather than his eyes.

"Miss, I don't know why you're so angry; and no, I don't know who you are," Sokka placated, giving the innocent mistake card another shot. "Do you know who this girl is, Kya?"

"No…what do you want with us?" The last part was directed at Toph, whose pale eyes widened with even more anger.

"You morons think you can spy on the Blind Bandit and get away with it?! Just because I'm blind, you thought I wouldn't know, huh? Well, you messed with the wrong girl, because I'm the most powerful earthbender that's ever lived, and I can kick your asses from here to the Fire Nation and back!"

Sokka's face hardened. This obvious giveaway was lost on the blind girl, which was the only reason he allowed it to show. So she had somehow picked up on the fact that he had been following her for the past few days, to get acquainted with the person their employers wanted back. Clearly there was more to this girl than met the eye, even more so given that she had found them here. He turned his head slightly and nodded to Katara; the girl shouldn't have any idea that Katara was a waterbender, or that he had his guandao. They would knock her out, and take her back to the Bei Fongs themselves. It seemed their disrupting a powerful smuggling ring was just a bonus this time.

Toph was still raging. "And as if spying on me wasn't enough, you somehow got Fao Lung killed! I don't know how, but I know it was you two, and believe me, there's a whole bunch of earthbenders ready to rip you apart now that the fights have been suspended. Too bad they're never going to get a chance at you, because you're never leaving this room."

Katara was still casually moving towards the dresser, where her waterskin was. Sokka decided to keep Toph talking; a little more information was always a good thing. "But how do you know it was us? I don't understand…"

"Because you were there last night, idiot," Toph spat. "I never forget a set of footsteps; how do you think I knew you were following me? When you showed up, I knew it was too much to be a coincidence."

"Fine," Sokka said, and there was a new finality in his tone. "You caught us. Yes, we spied on you, and yes, we killed Fao Lung. But that's really only a side note to what we're really here for…" he paused, and Katara moved the last few feet and grabbed her waterskin, uncorking it in one smooth motion. "You."

At this, all three sprang into action at once; Sokka swung his guandao low and fast, intending to catch Toph with the flat of the blade and end the fight quickly, Katara pulled a stream of water from her pouch and whipped it at Toph, and Toph fell into a defensive posture.

The floor shook, and Sokka found his strike disrupted by a section of floor that detached itself and hit the hilt of his weapon, causing his swing to go wide. He jumped back, readying a new attack, but Toph was quick; she slammed her fist into the ground and sent him flying back with a powerful shockwave. The floor and wall behind him crumbled, and Sokka had just enough time to catch a glimpse of his sister pulling more water out, her first whip having been countered, and then he was falling, clear of the building, thirteen stories above the ground.

Sokka cursed the Fire Nation for their incessant building projects; ever since they'd taken over the city, some five years ago, they'd built more and more factories in the Lower Ring. Factories, of course, needed labor to run them, and with all the Earth Kingdom citizens displaced from the Upper Ring by Fire Nation colonists, the Lower Ring was now full to bursting with people, and when there was no more room to build out, Fire Nation architects figured out how build up. It was ingenious, really, except when one was thrown out of such buildings from the top floor.

Sokka managed to spin in midair and jam the blade of his spear into the wall. He was sure it must've looked rather strange to the people inside; a huge blade just cutting through their wall with no warning, but he really could care less, as long as he didn't meet a sticky end on the hard ground below.

Sokka came to a stop just below the third floor, about twenty feet off the ground. There was a boom, and chunks of masonry began falling from above. Sokka yanked his guandao free and fell, rolling and coming up into a crouch. He spotted his sister freefalling and ran to catch her, leaping into it to carry her past another falling round of stone and earth. They landed in a heap, and Sokka was immediately checking Katara for injuries. Katara shook her head and pointed upwards, and Sokka looked up in time to dive out of the way yet again; this time, it was Toph herself that fell, hitting the earth like a meteor and shaking the foundations of the buildings around them.

Sokka and Katara retreated some distance, Sokka retrieving his guandao and giving it a test spin above his head, glad for the room to properly wield it. Toph, realizing they were still on their feet, let out a roar of rage and began throwing the fallen parts of the building at them. Katara ducked behind Sokka, who began fending the smaller chunks off with his spear; using its length and weight to his advantage, while dodging the larger. When Toph ran out of ammo, she viciously stomped the ground, knocking them both back with another shockwave. Then, to both their amazement, she turned and buried her fingers in the building behind her, tearing off a piece of it that dwarfed her.

Muscles bulging, her face split with a sadistic grin, Toph shouted, "I'm going to love crushing you like a bug!" Then she threw the hunk of building at them.

Sokka's mouth dropped open; there was no way they were dodging that. But as it turned out, Fate had decided to grant them a reprieve; at that very moment, a man glad in dark green robes shot in front of them, and split the massive chunk of brick in two with a quick earthbending move.

Sokka was only momentarily relieved, as he quickly realized that their savior was a member of the Dai Li. Just as quickly, the man spun, shooting his earth gauntlets at them, disarming them. A split second later, two more agents appeared out of nowhere and restrained them with their gauntlets. Sokka and Katara landed heavily on the ground.

Sokka twisted his head enough to see more agents using earthbending to prop up the dangerously listing inn. Toph was approaching, and the agent nearest him was speaking to her.

"Are you okay, Miss?"

"Yes, thank you, sir, I'm sorry for the mess." She said it in a sickly sweet voice that Sokka almost gagged over. Surely the Dai Li weren't stupid enough to believe that.

"It's no trouble, young lady, although I must point out to you that vigilante justice is both unnecessary and discouraged in our city. I thank you, however, for your tipoff as to the whereabouts of those wanted criminals."

"Oh, it was no problem. I'm just glad to help." Sokka felt Toph kneel down next to him, and her breath was hot and labored in his ear: "That's right, bastard. I knew who you were. I did a little spying of my own. It isn't every day you find a warrior that carries a boomerang." Her voice dripped smugness and condescension, and Sokka longed to reach out and strangle her smooth, pale throat.

Toph straightened up as the Dai Li agent began speaking to her again. "If you don't mind, Miss, we ask that you accompany us to the nearest processing center. We need your statement regarding these two."

"Of course."

The Dai Li agents picked them up, and began marching Sokka and Katara down the street, Toph just behind them, the remainder of the Dai Li behind her. The processing center was about five blocks away, and Sokka shook with fear at the thought of going in there. He knew the Dai Li were not kind to prisoners, and also knew that some criminals that went in there came out completely different people, with no recollection of who they had been. It was terrifying to think that in a few hours, all memory of Sokka of the Water Tribe might be gone. A quick glance told Sokka that Katara was equally afraid; tears were running down her cheeks, even though her face remained defiant.

When they reached the processing center, Sokka and Katara were marched inside; while Toph was taken to the front desk to get her statement. Sokka heard words being spoken between Toph and the Dai Li working at the desk, but didn't pay attention; he was too busy worrying about their fate. When they were finished, he heard Toph ask if she could go.

"Actually, I'm afraid you will have to stay with us, Miss Bei Fong."

"What?!" Toph shouted.

"You are, in fact Toph Bei Fong, eldest daughter of Lao Bei Fong of Gaoling. He has sent bulletins across the whole of the Earth Kingdom requesting your immediate return. We are, of course, happy to oblige his wishes."

Two Dai Li agents rushed in and grabbed Toph, holding her down while they shackled her. Metal shackles, Sokka noticed.

Toph screamed. "You can't do this to me! Let me go!"

"Actually, we can. You see, not only are you here without your father's permission, but you are also living in this city as an unregistered citizen. We have strict orders to escort any unregistered people out of the city immediately."

Toph struggled valiantly, but was unable to break free. The three of them were marched through a door behind the desk, and down several long flights of stairs. Their walk continued through long, dark passages ways made of stone, eventually leading to a block of cells. They were each thrown in a separate cell, Toph into one that was all metal, while Sokka and Katara were tossed into cells that were stone, except for the metal doors.

Sokka collapsed on the floor. He rubbed his wrists, trying to get the blood flowing again; at least the Dai Li had removed his earth bonds. He stood up and peered through the slot in his door; he could just make out Toph's cell across the hall. He slumped down again, feeling defeated. This was it, there was no way out. The Dai Li had caught them.

And when they were finished, he wouldn't even remember his own name.


	3. Conflagration

Katara ran through the snowdrifts that dotted her village at the bottom of the world. She and Sokka had just returned from a fishing trip, and Gran-Gran had given them the afternoon off from chores as a reward for a job well done.

But Katara's playful mood was interrupted by a groaning noise, recognizable as ice cracking and breaking up. A monstrous shadow emerged from the fog surrounding the village, revealing itself to be a Fire Navy warship. Katara heard the villagers screaming and running, heard Sokka crying out for her to get to safety, even as he took his spear and ran towards the ship, seeking to protect his family. Katara shouted after him to stop being stupid, he didn't stand a chance, but wouldn't listen.

The ship halted just as it split the village wall with its icebreaker prow, opening to reveal a cadre of firebenders, led by a tall young man not much older than Sokka. Only this boy had a hideous scar covering the left side of his face, around his eye.

Katara cringed as Sokka charged them, only to be easily rebuffed by the scarred boy. The boy led his troops down into the snow, and addressed the village in a harsh voice, telling them to hand over the Avatar, because he knew the Avatar was here. When the villagers shook their heads, His face became a mask of rage and pain, he turned and began walking back towards his ship, and as he did, he issued orders to his troops:

"Kill them all. Burn the village."

Katara shouted in defiance, and the boy turned halfway to look at her. He pointed.

"Except her. She's mine. And the boy, too," he finished, gesturing at Sokka. Two burly firebenders grabbed Katara, and her mediocre waterbending was useless to help her. She and Sokka were taken aboard the ship, and Katara was glad in a way, because she never saw the last of the Southern Water Tribe, including her own grandmother, killed where they stood.

The prow of the ship closed slowly, sealing off the sounds of screams, even as they were replaced by the dark chuckle of their scarred captor.

--

Katara jolted awake, sitting bolt upright. She shook herself to clear her head; no, she wasn't on Zuko's ship, about to be taken away, she was in a Dai Li prison cell.

Still, the memories of her hellish year aboard Prince Zuko's ship were not easily repressed, not after a dream like that. So Katara saw the images of her captivity bubbling to the surface in her mind, scenes of torture and slavery and cells much less nice than this one. She had only rarely seen Sokka, and it had taken her awhile to figure out who exactly her captor was; she'd only had snatches of conversation from the soldiers aboard to go off of.

The only bright spot in the whole ordeal had been Zuko's uncle, the only kind soul aboard the ship. Many a time Katara had been given extra food by him, or some sage advice that she used to this day, even though at the time she'd much rather he shut up and get more food.

After a while, Zuko had apparently gotten bored with his captives, and had sold them to a Fire Nation circus master at a port in the Earth Kingdom. There, Katara had been forced to become more proficient with her waterbending, as the ringmaster used her as a sideshow of sorts, the "Clever Savage." But at least she'd had her brother, along with one of the acrobats, an always perky (and occasionally annoying) girl named Ty Lee, who was very sweet, if a little ditzy.

Katara recalled the time spent mastering darker forms of waterbending, like the technique whereby she could draw water from living objects, or use the fluid in people's bodies to control them, like living puppets. She'd even found ways to kill people using this technique, increasing blood pressure in their heads, bursting blood vessels. An extremely painful way to go, if her victim's screams were any indication.

She remembered the night she and Sokka had escaped the circus, with Ty Lee's help. Ty Lee had used her chi blocking to knock out one of the night watchmen, and Katara and Sokka had made a run for it, Sokka taking the ornamental guandao the ringmaster had recently received as a gift from some general with him. Ty Lee had made a big show out of the goodbyes, giving them both rib-crushing hugs and promising that they'd meet again. Katara smiled a little at the memory; it made her sad to think that nice people like Ty Lee were forced to swallow the lies set by the Fire Nation government and accept them as fact.

There was a sudden rattling, and Toph's voice echoed in the cramped chambers.

"Finally, I thought they'd never change shifts. Time to get out of here!"

There came a loud snapping noise, followed by a deafening shriek of metal. Katara looked through the slit on her door to see that Toph had somehow pulled the door of her cell right off its hinges. Katara wondered how this was possible; she'd never heard of Metalbending, though she was also reasonably sure that not even the muscle bound Toph was strong enough to do that on her own.

Toph began running down the hall, and Sokka called after her.

"Wait! What about us?"

Toph stopped and began chuckling. "You've gotta be kidding me…you really think I'm going to rescue you? Fuck you! Fuck you both! You're insane if I'm going to help you after what you almost did to me!"

Katara gritted her teeth. Their only way out was about to run away, leaving them to who knew what at the hands of the Dai Li. Katara smiled. Not if she had anything to say about it.

Toph's body suddenly seized up, and she began walking back toward Katara's cell. "What—what the hell?! What's happening to me?! I can't move!"

"You can't talk, either," Katara snapped, and with a small twitch of her fingers, immobilized Toph's vocal cords. Toph stopped at the door to the cell, while Katara thought about how best to approach this problem. She finally decided that having Toph pull the door down like she had earlier was simplest, and so stepped away from the door and worked her hands like a puppeteer with his marionette. Toph grunted, lunged forward, and the metal door crumpled under grasp. Another gesture and Toph pulled the door away and threw it down the hall.

Katara stepped out with a grin plastered on her face. "Thank you, Toph, you're very kind," she said, in her most sugary voice. Toph gave her a look that could've not only killed, but tortured and dismembered first.

"Now," Katara continued, "You can release Sokka, too." She moved her hands, but to her surprise, Toph stayed in one spot. Her muscles quivered and bulged, and sweat rolled from her brow, but she stayed rooted. Her lips moved slowly, every syllable costing her great effort.

"Go to hell…you…fucking…bitch!"

Katara only tutted under her breath and increased her control, forcing Toph to her knees. "I don't think you quite understand your position, sweetie. I control the very blood in your veins. You're my puppet, and I'm holding all your strings. And not only can I make you dance and sing like a drunken fool…I can also kill you." She held out a hand, and Toph's eyes widened, the anger replaced by pain. Slowly, Katara began pinching her fingers together, the veins in Toph's temples throbbing more and more the closer together her fingers got. Katara grinned wickedly; a slow, painful death was exactly what this little brat deserved. She leaned down and whispered in Toph's ear.

"Do you feel that? Can you hear it? The rushing of your blood through your brain, going faster and faster, until your veins explode, and you die, twitching in pain. Is that what you want, Toph? Because I can do it…" Katara held up her thumb and index finger, a fraction of an inch apart, and quickly pinched and 

released. Toph opened her mouth and screamed, but there was no sound, as Katara had frozen her vocal cords again. Katara smile grew wider as she watched Toph convulse on the floor sadistic joy etched all over her face—

"Katara!"

Sokka's sharp warning made Katara stop and release her grip on Toph, who remained on the floor, breathing hard, shivering. Sokka was staring through the slot in the door, and his eyes were not happy at all. Katara shrugged and waved her hand, leeching water from the air and freezing it in the lock. The locking mechanism shattered, and the door swung open silently. Sokka stepped out, looking livid.

"What the hell was that? That was totally unnecessary!"

"She was going to leave us behind, Sokka. I had to keep her here somehow."

"And we both know you could've just frozen the lock on your own door like you just did with mine! That was you being totally irresponsible! And, while I'd like to beat you down now, we need to get out of here, now, so that'll have to wait. Let's go."

He began marching down the hall away from them, and Katara quickly followed. She glanced over her shoulder to see Toph climbing shakily to her feet, and made a pulling motion with her hand that caused Toph to take a few jarring steps in their direction.

"Come along, Blind Bandit…we still have to get you home."

Toph followed without a word.

--

They emerged from the processing center and quickly hustled across the street into the shadows of an alley. Sokka pressed himself against the wall and sidled to the other end of the alley, peeking out onto the next street over. When he determined it was clear, he turned and addressed his sister.

"We need to go back and get our gear. It's still buried in the rubble at the inn." Katara nodded.

"Agreed. But what makes you think the Dai Li didn't take it with them? It's probably in a cache in the prison."

Sokka grumbled. "Maybe. That does seem like a likely scenario. But there's no way we're going back in there, and there's always the possibility they missed something. I'm going back to check."

"Then I'm coming with you," Katara said automatically. Sokka put a hand on her shoulder and pushed her back.

"No. It's too dangerous. The Dai Li could've posted sentries, thinking we would come back. Maybe they left our weapons there for that exact reason. In whatever case, only one of us needs to go. There's no sense in all of us getting recaptured." He pointed back the way they had come, down the street, past the Dai Li prison and towards the West Wall of the city. "Head in that direction, and scout a path to get out of here. You know how to mark a trail." His next words were stern, and his stare bored into Katara's eyes. "Keep an eye on Toph, but under no circumstances are you to use bloodbending on her again. She comes with us willingly, or not at all. And we will have words about your actions later, make no mistake." Katara said nothing, merely nodded sullenly.

Sokka turned on his heel and darted across the street, disappearing into the shadows of another alley. Katara turned to Toph, who was still looking a bit dazed, and said, "C'mon, Bandit. Looks like we have a job to do."

--

Sokka used all of his stealth skills to avoid detection on his back to the inn. They'd been inside the prison for some time, obviously, as it had been early morning when they'd been detained, and it was now verging on midnight, judging from the moon.

While there wasn't much pedestrian traffic at this hour, you never knew who was watching from a window or rooftop, so Sokka hugged walls and stayed low, for once wishing it was a cloudy night, so the almost full moon couldn't reveal him in its gaze. What a day it was, Sokka thought, when a member of the Water Tribe wanted the moon to hide.

Sokka made it to the inn without incident, but almost immediately dove behind a pile of rubble that hadn't yet been cleaned up. Standing in the broad open space behind the inn was a tall figure dressed in a black body suit, a scabbard strapped to their back.

The figure turned, and Sokka was able to see the fanged blue and white mask they wore. His eyes widened; it couldn't be. He was sure he seen that mask before, once, almost three years ago. He and Katara had been hanging out around a small town built on the banks of a river, looking for work. It had been only a few months after they'd hit upon the idea of becoming bounty hunters as a way to support themselves. Sokka had gone on a late night reconnaissance run for a job given them by a wealthy merchant that lived in the area; the man had claimed a group of thugs were raiding his storehouses in the town, and wanted Sokka and Katara to chase them off, no killing necessary (his words). Sokka had happened across a lone man being accosted by a figure in black, wearing a blue and white mask and carrying a pair of dadao broadswords. After a few threatening words had been exchanged, the man had run off in fear, and the figure had turned to look up, right at the place where Sokka had been hiding on a nearby rooftop.

At the time, Sokka had felt sure he'd escaped detection, but now he felt just as sure the masked man had seen him, and would remember him if he saw him again, just as Sokka had. So Sokka crouched lower, waiting with bated breath for the man to finish whatever he was doing and leave.

But the man didn't leave. Instead, he walked circles around the area, examining it like a doctor examining a sick patient, taking special care around the piles of rubble (Sokka had to lay flat and partially wedge himself under a chunk of masonry to avoid detection at one point).

It was as he was lying down, that Sokka saw the glint of moonlight off something shiny; he immediately recognized it as his boomerang, apparently knocked free from his back during the fight with Toph. He reached under the rubble, and was just able to hook the strap with his finger and pull it to him.

One down, three to go, Sokka thought, discreetly tying the boomerang around his torso, and thinking of the remaining weapons he had to recover. He wondered, not for the first time, why his sister so adamantly refused to carry a blade with her. She insisted that there was water everywhere, so she would never need one, but in Sokka's opinion, one could never be too prepared. It wasn't even like Katara couldn't use a knife or shortsword.

Sokka rose into a crouch again as the masked man drifted away from his hiding place, towards the back of the shop behind the inn. Sokka risked a peek over the side of the pile, and caught sight of the hilt of his wakizashi and Katara's waterskin lying side by side a few feet away. Ducking low, Sokka ran for them, grabbing them without breaking stride and falling prone behind another pile about a hundred feet from the first. The masked man didn't react.

Sokka quickly slung the waterskin over his shoulder and buckled the scabbard of his shortsword around his waist. Now, where was his spear? It should be fairly obvious. There weren't too many ten foot polearms in use outside the military.

There! Lying exactly where he'd dropped it, Sokka's guandao winked at him in the moonlight. Unfortunately, it was right out in the open, and the masked man was standing not twelve feet away, 

digging through a stall set up against the back wall of the shop. Sokka took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. There was nothing for it. He'd sneak out, grab the spear, and run like hell, and pray to the moon and ocean that the masked man was slower than he was.

Another deep breath, and Sokka eased himself, as silently as possible, from behind cover, taking measured, silent steps towards his goal. His heart thudded in his chest, and he had to tell himself to focus; if it came to a fight, then he'd deal with it then, not now.

His fingers were mere inches away when a slight noise caused Sokka to look up. An instant later he was snatching his guandao from the ground and bringing the hilt up to block, as the masked man whipped around, drawing his swords and slicing down at Sokka in one fluid motion.

The impact of the swords on the hilt was jarring, and Sokka almost dropped his weapon. He recovered in time to skip away from a second strike, and back off far enough that he could bring his blade to bear. He took a test swing, down and too the side, and was easily parried by his foe. Sokka readjusted his grip and lunged forward, thrusting so the man had to leap aside and bat the spear blade away with one sword. He recovered quickly, though, rushing in to slice at Sokka's vulnerable left side. Sokka pivoted on his right foot, swinging so the hilt deflected the strike again, and the man had to jump back to avoid the pointed counterweight on the guandao's butt.

Sokka jumped, spun, and swung the guandao straight down, the blade aimed to cleave his foe's head in two. The man brought his swords up sharply, catching the blade between them and grunting with the effort of resisting the force of Sokka's attack. Sokka pressed his advantage, using his leverage to his advantage. A quick twist, and the man's right sword went skittering away in the dirt. The man charged him again, and this time wasn't fast enough; he had to bring the hilt in to block, and found his weapon's length a sudden severe handicap. He couldn't rotate it properly to block every strike because the end kept scraping the ground.

A thrust made by the masked man grazed Sokka's side, sending a white line of pain across his ribs and making him drop the spear. He backed away, simultaneously drawing his wakizashi and boomerang. He tossed the boomerang, sending it at his opponent's head to make him flinch, and was on him in an instant, slicing, thrusting, slashing away with his shortsword. He managed to snag his boomerang on the way back and was suddenly a flurry of attacks and blocks; striking with the wakizashi, deflecting with the boomerang. He had turned the tables on the masked man; now the dadao's longer reach was an impediment, and Sokka drove his foe back towards the shop.

Sokka was unprepared when his opponent dodged a downward slash from the short sword by back flipping away, rolling and coming up with his other sword in hand. Sokka's eyes widened and he turned and ran, spotting his guandao on the ground a few feet away. He sheathed his other weapons and grabbed it on the fly, turning and charging the masked man just as he charged Sokka. Sokka decided a little unorthodox fighting was called for, and stuck the blade of his spear into the ground at the last second, vaulting up deliver a high speed kick at eye level. The masked man, caught completely off guard, was hit full force and knocked flat on his back with a crunching sound.

Sokka recovered and turned, just as the masked man climbed to his feet. He turned; there was blood running from under his mask, it looked like his nose might be broken. Sokka growled and cried out, "Who are you? Why are you attacking me?!"

The man stood there, breathing hard, and Sokka heard him chuckle a little. It sounded strangely familiar, though Sokka couldn't place it. Then the man reached up and pulled the mask off.

Sokka dropped his spear, floored. Staring him in the face was the one person he'd hoped never to see again, Zuko, Crown Prince of the Fire Nation. The Prince looked terrible; his topknot was gone, replaced by a shaggy, unkempt head of hair, his cheeks were sunken, and his wide amber eyes held a manic glint they hadn't before. All in all, he looked almost insane. It didn't help that there was a massive amount of blood staining his pale skin.

"Does that answer your question, Sokka?" Zuko whispered. Then he drew back, inhaling deeply, and breathed a cloud of flame towards his opponent.

--

Katara and Toph stopped to rest when they were only about six blocks from the West Wall, and the entrance to the city that lay along its length. At first neither of them even looked at the other, content to sit against the wall of the abandoned house they'd halted next to, and breathe hard. Finally Katara turned to look at Toph and, only because she was still angry at her brother for scolding her, said, "You're a real brat, you know that?"

Toph chuckled. "You have to be able to do better than that…I've heard worse from little kids that come to the fights."

"Whatever. At least I didn't abandon my family when my country was being taken over. Do you have any idea how much you hurt them?"

Toph scoffed. "You want me to believe you actually care about what my parents think? You're just a hired thug, happy to get your money and be on your way. You don't give a shit how they feel."

"You don't know anything about me!" Katara screamed. "You never had to feel the pain of hearing everyone you knew and loved be slaughtered, your home for your entire life destroyed, your life taken away from you and put in the hands of a sadistic monster!"

Toph smirked. "Good thing I don't love my parents, then."

"You ungrateful bitch! How can you sit there and say—"

"Don't pretend you know anything about me either, Katara! You never lived with my parents. It was always, 'Toph, you mustn't do that,' 'Toph, a lady doesn't play in the dirt,' 'Toph! You soiled your new dress!' It was unbearable! They didn't care about me at all, they just wanted to have their version of a perfect, obedient daughter, my wishes be damned. They gave me the most cursory earthbending lessons they could to keep me happy, but it was never enough. All I wanted was to develop my gift, but they insisted that a girl of noble birth had no business doing something as common as 'pushing rocks around.' They never understood me. And they never will. That's why I ran away, and why I'm never going back, and why they can rot in the deepest, darkest part of hell for all I care."

Toph fell silent, and Katara felt the anger build as she became more frustrated; how could Toph not see how lucky she was? Even if her parents weren't perfect, she had a family; Katara only had Sokka, and while no one could ever take his place, both of them longed dearly for the parents they hadn't seen since they were young.

It was at that moment that a tall figure dropped from the eaves of the abandoned house, landing not three feet from Katara. Katara let out a yelp and drew water from the air, forming it into an icicle and shooting it at the newcomer, but was surprised when the figure pulled a sword from his back and deftly blocked the shot. He stepped into the light, reveling himself to be about Sokka's height, with shaggy brown hair and dark eyes. He wore a mix of clothes, most of it looking like scavenged Fire Nation armor he'd cobbled together to fit himself. The sword he held was one of two, a pair of matching tiger hook swords, uncommon weapons if there ever were any. He had a rather roguish look to him, Katara had to admit, and he didn't seem to want to attack.

"Good evening, ladies," he said smoothly. "Name's Jet."

"Good for you," Toph said, mirroring Katara's thoughts.

"What do you want?" Katara snapped.

"Whoa, not so hostile," Jet said. He sheathed his sword and held up his hands. "I come in peace."

"Yeah, sure. What do you want?" Katara repeated.

"Well, I noticed that you're Water Tribe."

"Yeah? So? It's not like we're extinct."

"I know. I also know no one runs like you two were unless they're trying to get away from someone."

Katara adopted a neutral facial expression. "Maybe we are."

Jet smiled. "Then I can help you. I know the Lower Ring like the back of my hand. There's nothing that goes on that me and my friends Longshot and Smellerbee don't know about. Are you trying to get out of the city?"

"I think we can manage on our own; the exit is just a few blocks away."

Jet put a hand on her shoulder to stop her. "You can't get out that way. The entrance is crawling with Dai Li. Something must've happened that got them stirred up. I saw them refuse a man exit from the city, and then arrest him when he asked why. Luckily, I know a secret way out." He smiled like he and Katara were in on said secret, and Katara frowned.

"Fine," she said," but I'll warn you now, if I even begin to think you're leading us astray, I won't hesitate to take you down."

Jet nodded. "Fair enough. Now, c'mon, this way." Katara grabbed his arm.

"No, this way. We have to get my brother, and I already marked a trail for him to follow. We'll meet up with him, and then follow you to your secret exit." Jet nodded again, and motioned for Katara to lead the way.

They fled back the way they had come, Katara remembering her trail easily, and growing more worried as they grew closer to where she had parted ways with her brother without meeting him. She hoped dearly that he hadn't fallen into a trap.

When they reached the alley where Katara had last seen Sokka, she continued without pause and began leading them to the inn. As they neared it, Katara pulse quickened and she began running, hearing the sounds of a fight. They turned the last corner and Katara shouted her brother's name, sprinting to his aid even as she registered the gouts of flame issuing from her brother's opponent. Sokka was moving clumsily, barely dodging, not even trying to attack, clearly exhausted. Katara had never seen him pushed to his limits like this.

She reached his side, nimbly pulling the waterskin from his shoulder and drawing the water from it as she faced the enemy. She had only the barest time to realize the identity of the black-clad firebender when she heard a scream from behind her. The scream heralded the sudden appearance of a swarm of Dai Li agents, descending on them like a horde of vulture-wasps. Katara, Sokka, and (was it really him?) Zuko were captured in seconds, and Toph was brought up, struggling against three other agents.

Katara squirmed briefly, but it was no use; just like last time, her bonds held fast. A tall man, dressed in green and gold finery, with a bald head and a long black braid detached himself from the ranks and stood before them. He spoke in a deep, commanding voice.

"Good work, Jet. We couldn't have done it without you." It was then that Katara saw Jet, standing free, off to the side. His swords were drawn, and he looked very confused. The tall man continued, "Jet. The Earth King has invited you to Lake Laogai."

Jet sheathed his swords and stepped towards them, and Katara saw a new gleam of cunning and malevolence in his eyes. She felt bewildered. How? How had he tricked them? She hadn't even known Sokka would be here, so how could he have? How had he played her so fully?

"You bastard! I'll kill you!" Katara voice was thick with rage. She yelled at Jet, "HOW?! How did you do it? How did you know to lead us here?!"

Jet leaned down and, ever so gently, traced his fingers along Katara's jaw line. "Easy, beautiful," he said, and now his voice carried a new edge to it, a degree of malice that had been missing before. "I just have lots and lots of practice." Katara withdrew from his touch and spat in his face. "Hm. Spit all you want, it won't change your predicament."

They were marched away, just like last time, and Katara found the small part of her brain unoccupied with thought of tortuous retribution against Jet leering at the young man on Sokka's opposite side. A quick glance told her that her suspicions were correct, it was indeed Prince Zuko, and a fierce wave of hatred coursed through her. It was tempered somewhat by the bizarreness of their situation, but Katara still had no doubts that, if they escaped, there would be a reckoning for the Prince, one that he would not walk away from.

--

Sokka's cell was different this time. He realized with a sinking feeling that the Dai Li had learned from their escape just a few hours previous, and had put them in cells to combat such an occurrence. While there was still a slot in the door, the door itself had no seams, no rivets; indeed, it just seemed to be one large slab of metal. Where the door met the wall, there was only an uncommonly narrow crack, too small for even Sokka's fingernail to find purchase.

Sokka called for his sister once, twice, and realized she was not there. Either they were holding her somewhere else…or she was already gone.

Sokka peered out of his cell into the hall, noting that Zuko's cell was across from his. Loath as he was to speak to the Prince, he felt a certain amount of ribbing was definitely deserved. Pitching his voice to carry, Sokka said, "Oh, how the mighty have fallen, eh, Princy?"

Zuko's only response was an irritated grunt. Sokka pressed, "But seriously. How the hell does a prince with an entire ship of soldiers under his command end up alone and in prison in a city occupied by his own nation?" He found he was genuinely curious, and was pleasantly surprised when Zuko answered.

"I'm not a prince anymore," he began, his voice rough and harsh. "I don't think I was even when I destroyed your village." Sokka felt a spike of anger at those words, but Zuko was still speaking. Ranting at his enemy could wait. "My father banished me after I displeased him, and scarred me so I would remember. He told me I could return if I found the Avatar and brought him back. When I found your village, I had already been searching for over two years, and I was fast running out of places to look. When you claimed you had no knowledge of the Avatar's whereabouts, something inside me just snapped. I was bitter…I still am…but I had never before ordered something so…unforgivable. It haunts me to this day."

Sokka rolled his eyes. If Zuko thought acting repentant was going to make Sokka forgive him, he really was crazy. "So, why us? Why'd you capture us when you killed the rest of the village?" He couldn't help the note of resentment that crept in.

"I…don't know. It was just an impulse, I guess. Your sister and you were so defiant, the only ones that stood against me. I guess I found you interesting." There was a shrug in his words. "Of course, sister proved far more…entertaining, once we got underway." Now there was something of a smile in his speech, and Sokka's eyes widened.

Without even realizing it, Sokka leapt up from his sitting position and began straining against the door, screaming livid obscenities at Zuko. "You son of a bitch! Bastard! How dare you do that to my sister! I'll tear you apart! There won't be enough pieces left for anyone to find!" He continued until he'd shouted himself hoarse, and collapsed again on the floor of the cell.

"You're right, Sokka. I deserve everything and more you just said. I don't know what happened to me. I withdrew from everyone, even my uncle, and he was the only who was ever there for me. I didn't even care about finding the Avatar anymore. I just wanted to escape, and your sister…she…facilitated that." Zuko paused for a long moment, and Sokka wondered if he was going to continue. As much as he wanted to kill Zuko in the most hideous way possible, he was still somewhat interested in how he had come to be here. Thus, he felt a small measure of satisfaction when Zuko continued.

"Eventually, I got tired of it all. I was sick of the ship, sick of the crew…sick of you two, because you reminded me of my failure. So I sold you to the first man that would buy, and headed for home. I was convinced that if I begged and groveled enough, my father would understand me and welcome me back. I was a fool. My father demanded to see the Avatar, and when I couldn't deliver, he became livid. He revoked my birthright, and told his guards I was to be executed for treason. My uncle tried to protect me, but…he died in the attempt. I managed to escape, stealing away on a ship bound for the Earth Kingdom. It was hard to remain undetected, as my father had sent my sister, now the Crown Princess, after me, and her wanted posters were everywhere. The scar is something of a giveaway."

Zuko fell silent, and Sokka was about to inquire why when he heard it: a long, tortured scream coming from the bowels of the prison. He shuddered, recognizing it as Toph.

They were silent for a long while, until Zuko picked up the thread of his story again, though now it seemed more like an excuse to ignore the scream than anything else.

"I realized my sister was no longer actively searching for me when I heard of the fall of Ba Sing Se. I knew only she could've orchestrated something like that, and the fact that the wanted posters were now far fewer told me her attention had to be directed elsewhere. So I decided to come to the city and see what I could see. It took a long time; I still wasn't able to travel freely, since any sighting would instantly bring my sister down on me. But I made it here, eventually. I don't know what prompted me to come out tonight. I'd heard about the Dai Li's arrest at the inn this morning, but there are plenty of reports like those. When I saw you…I snapped. It all came flooding back to me, all the rage and betrayal, and I just wanted to hurt you as badly as possible."

"The feeling's mutual."

"I know."

"What about in that town a few years back?"

"You mean, when I saw you?"

"Yeah. You were beating up some guy…"

"I was teaching him a lesson. The man tried to get me to dance in exchange for a gold piece. That wasn't happening."

Their conversation was cut short by the sound of footsteps, followed by Toph, escorted by two Dai Li, walking past their cells. Sokka shivered when he saw her: Toph's face was blank, and her hair had been beautifully styled. Her clothes were new and framed her figure nicely. She looked…softer, somehow, the muscles in her arms and shoulders less prominent.

They passed on, and Sokka felt his fear beginning to grow. Neither he nor Zuko spoke again.

They waited a long while, until a Dai Li agent came for Zuko. He went without a fight.

All alone now, Sokka felt his terror reaching fever pitch. They would come for him soon, but he would not submit like the fallen prince, no, certainly not. He would fight, even if there was no hope, he would make sure he was the hardest damned prisoner they'd ever dealt with.

So, when Sokka's cell door soundlessly opened, he was ready. He lunged at his captors, but they restrained him easily. Still, he did not give up, struggling even as they led him away, through the prison, to a small, dark room with a chair at one end. Into the chair he went, earth bonds holding him there. He began to rant a rave at the Dai Li in the room, even as the agent began repeating a mantra, over and over again:

"Your name is Qing."

Sokka yelled until voice gave out, and the only sound left to listen to was the Dai Li's voice. It followed him as he retreated into his mind, haunting him, until it filled every corner of his consciousness. When he could think no other thoughts, Sokka said:

"My name is Qing."

Shortly after that, he blacked out.

A/N: Don't you just love cliffhangers? This chapter ended up...way longer than I expected it too. I was hoping all the chapters would be in the same 4-5 page range, but half way through this, I realized the vast majority of backstory for the AU had yet to be explained, so...there was a good three or so pages in that, plus the rest of the actual plot for the chapter.

Next up: AANG! Bet you're wondering what happened to him!


	4. Tempest

When Sokka awoke, it was to bright blue skies and blinding sunshine

When Sokka awoke, it was to bright blue skies and blinding sunshine. He blinked several times, and sat up; he had been lying in the dust on the side of a road. To his left and behind him, two others, a boy and a girl, were also waking. Something twisted in his mind. Hadn't there been a fourth…? But no, no, there hadn't. It was just them.

But who were they, exactly? He struggled to remember. His own name seemed infuriatingly out of reach. A ghost of a thought floated across his subconscious. Sokka…? Was that his name?

Of course not, his consciousness declared, his name was Qing. Who was this Sokka? What a weird name…

Qing was jarred from his thoughts by a friendly voice from down the road. A young man was jogging towards them, waving. Qing waved back.

"Hello, friend," Qing called out. "Can you help us?"

"Of course," the young man said. He came to a stop at Qing's feet. "What's wrong?"

"Well…" Qing started, but he found he couldn't continue. What was wrong, anyway? Nothing seemed out of place; indeed, the day was altogether quite pleasant. So, why did he have this nagging feeling that something was terribly, horribly unfitting?

"Why don't we start with your name," the young man prompted.

"Oh. Of course," Qing said. "My name is—"

SOKKA! His mind screamed.

"—Qing," Qing finished. He had not even heard the scream in his head.

"I'm Jet," the young man replied. He held out a hand to help Qing to his feet. "Are you three traveling to Ba Sing Se?"

Ba Sing Se…that sounded right, Qing thought. "Sure we are," he said. "By the way, these are my friends, Li and Jing." He gestured to the boy with the scar and the dark skinned girl who accompanied him.

"A pleasure," Jet replied, shaking each of their hands in turn. "C'mon, I'll show you to Ba Sing Se." He started down the road. "You guys are going to love it there!"

Yes, Qing thought, completely oblivious to his subconscious mind's raging, I think we will.

--

Many thousands of miles away, locked under the sea, Aang slept. Actually, it was less sleep than suspended animation. His mind still churned, chaotic, with the effects of the Avatar State. The chatter of countless voices in his head, all shouting different things, each voice accompanied by its own distinct flashes of memory, each one there and gone, like a roiling cloud of smoke. But now something was changing. It was time for Aang to wake up.

In an instant, the world seemed to open, like an egg splitting in two, and Aang was among the living again. He registered two things in quick succession: one, a burner of a headache, and two, freezing cold. The headache, he found, diminished almost as soon as he acknowledged it; the murmur of voices and the slide show of lives disappearing from his mind. The cold, however, only got worse.

Aang opened his eyes slowly, squinting in the terrific glare. As his vision adjusted, he was treated to a shocking sight: Hard blue skies over harder blue water, dotted frequently with great masses of ice, huge, towering, jagged things.

Aang gasped, and toppled backwards in surprise; this only served to surprise him more, as he hadn't been aware of standing. He fell back into the soft furry coat of Appa, still snoozing on the ice.

"Appa? Appa!" Aang shouted. Appa growled deep, and slowly opened his eyes. "Buddy," Aang said, "I…I think we're lost." It was a terrific understatement, but the poor child's brain could only handle so much. He slowly turned 360 degrees, trying to find something, anything, unique about this desolate, beautiful seascape. There was nothing, just more water and ice.

Appa groaned. "Yeah," Aang said. "Gyatso's gonna be so mad when we get back. I wonder how long we've been gone?"

Appa growled in what could be described as an "I don't know."

"Well, we might as well get started…" Aang said. He hopped up to Appa's back, and with an enthusiastic "Yip-yip!" felt a familiar happiness spread through him as Appa took off—and fell with a tremendous splash into the water. Appa groaned.

"Still tired, huh?" Aang shook his head. "Oh, well, we'll just take our time then. Besides, we can't be too far from home…"

Four hours later, the sun was beginning to dip back toward the horizon, and Aang was becoming extremely nervous.

"Appa, where are we? Why haven't we seen anyone yet? Have we just been going in circles?!"

Appa roared.

"You're right, you're right…I can't panic. I'm the Avatar, and Avatars are supposed to always be in control. Spirits, this was such a bad idea…"

Aang's eyes darted across the horizon, looking for something, anything to reassure him that they were not the last two living beings on earth. And, quite to his surprise, he found something.

"Appa, what is that?"

"Rrrroaaaaargh."

"Yeah. Let's go check it out."

It was a ship. A huge, metallic behemoth, sitting on the ice with its prow pointed at the heavens. However, it didn't simply sit in the ice, as if it had frozen there; it sat on a raised outcropping, as if the ice had thrust up beneath it…

Aang took Appa out of the water and ventured closer to the wreck. He spotted a flag flying from the spire atop the ship's superstructure. The flag was red, with a stylized flame insignia.

"Fire Nation…?" Aang whispered. What was a Fire Navy ship doing down in this frozen wasteland? And how had it come to rest almost a thousand feet from the shore, above the water, no less? Could there be waterbenders around here? It was a small hope that was quickly dashed. Aang felt sure that if there were waterbenders about, they would've seen them by now.

Suddenly the long shadow cast by the ship and the flag flying overhead became a hundred times more ominous. Aang felt a shiver go up his spine that had nothing to do with the cold. He longed to take his staff and fly as fast as he could from this place, but he couldn't abandon Appa, who was apparently still too tired to fly. So he settled for sprinting back to Appa and tugging on his reins, saying, "Let's get out of here; this place gives me the creeps."

They trekked overland from the site of the wrecked ship, staying near the shore, slowly making their way around the mountains that began further inland. It wasn't until sunset that the wreck finally passed out of sight, and Aang felt a little of his anxiousness dissipate. He couldn't help the feeling that the thing was watching him, as absurd as that sounded.

With the mountains behind them, the two came to a vast plain of ice and snow, which they proceeded to cross. Aang was getting nervous again, wondering if the only sign of civilization they were fated to see was that horrific ship. Then he spotted something else: an area on the plain, near the shore, where the snow had been built into a spire of some kind. Aang and Appa made their way over to it, where Aang saw it was a watchtower, made of snow. It looked as if the top had been broken off, and on both sides, the remains of a wall stood, sloping down to nothing a few feet from the tower.

Aang felt the same cold shiver come over him. What fresh hell was this? He slowly walked around in a large circle, following the ghostly imprint of the wall back to its start. The he began exploring the area inside. Another large imprint outlined where a smaller structure, perhaps an igloo of some kind, had stood. Aang also found several objects: a wooden bowl, a piece of fabric, and a long wooden rod, broken at one end, about half as long as his staff.

Aang felt the creepiness of the place threatening to overcome him, and he was happy to oblige. He hurried back toward Appa, but stumbled on his way there. He looked down to see what he had tripped on, and found that he could barely make it out, white on white. He reached down to pick it up—and screamed, throwing it away, and sprinting for Appa.

It was a human skull.

Aang didn't tell Appa to leave the place, he merely curled up in the saddle, trying to block out the awful things he had seen. Someone, and Aang had a feeling he knew who, had killed the people that lived here. It was awful to think about, but what other conclusion did he have? The skull had been scorched in several places…who else could do that?

Aang looked up after a while, relived that he could not see the skull from where he was. But something new caught his eye. Aang was reluctant to look; so far, everything he had seen in this Spirit-forsaken place had been awful. But, being curious as he was, Aang looked anyway.

There, silhouetted against the setting sun, sending up a column of smoke, was a ship, coming towards them. A ship exactly like the one that had been wrecked on the ice.

* * *

A/N: So, there we have it. The big ending to my first completed multichapter fic. Now I know what you're thinking: WTF? This isn't an ending! What a ripoff! And yes, you're right, to a certain extent. But, in my defense, having written four chpaters in less than a week, my creative ticker has no juice left to figure out a plot arc from here, expecially one that would surely be very, very, long. Rest assured, those of you that want more, I have every intention of coming back to it eventually, but right now I need to take a step back. Therefore, the fic will be marked completed for now. Hope you all enjoyed! Leave a review on your way out!


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